Don’t rush Constitutional Review process — TUC
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the Constitutional Review Implementation Committee (CRIC) to ensure that the exercise reflects the views of large sections of the public. It has, therefore, cautioned the committee against hastening the review process.
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The General Secretary of the TUC, Mr Kofi Asamoah, made the call when the Steering Committee of the TUC met with members of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Advisory Committee on the Winner-Takes-All System, in Accra yesterday. The committee is currently holding stakeholder consultations on the political system described by its critics as divisive and a threat to the country’s nascent democracy.
The committee was set up to re-examine the country’s winner-takes-all system and to supervise the conduct of a nationwide public consultation process.
It has so far visited Tamale, Kumasi, Takoradi and has also sought audience with groups and individuals, including the Ghana Bar Association, the People’s National Convention (PNC), a former Finance Minister, Professor Kwesi Botchwey, and former President J.A. Kufuor.
The CRIC, under the chairmanship of Professor E.V.O Dankwa, was inaugurated in October 2010 to implement the recommendations of the government’s White Paper on the Constitution Review Commission (CRC). A date for the referendum to approve or reject the process is yet to be announced.
Ills of winner-takes-all
At the latest meeting, Mr Asamoah said the winner-takes-all system, among other things, tended to breed a siege mentality among politicians and political parties and transform competitive electoral politics into a ‘do-or-die’ affair.
“It tends to encourage the removal of competent and hardworking public servants from important public offices simply because of the perception that the person’s servile loyalty cannot be guaranteed or that he or she has political sympathies for an opposing party, even where those sympathies are not open and do not affect his or her diligent and competent performance of their public functions,” he said.
The TUC General Secretary also expressed deep concern about successive presidents terminating the appointments of boards of public institutions as soon as they assumed office, adding that such actions crippled the institutions.
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Other contributors to the discussion, including Ms Debora Freeman, a representative of the informal sector, Mr Kingsley Offei, the General Secretary of the General Agriculture Workers Union, all had issues with the current system and stated that the system had over the years put the country on the edge.
IEA contribution
Mr William Ahadzi, a member of IEA Advisory Committee, making a contribution, said apart from leading to a potential bastardisation of state institutions, the winner-takes-all system put the entire nation in apprehension during electioneering period to the extent that people had to store food and hold prayer sessions to avert violence.
In his contribution, a member of the IEA Advisory Committee, Mr Justice Emile Short, stated that although the 1992 Constitution provided for the winner-takes-all system, it was only intended to serve as a formula for selecting leaders.
“Indeed the framers of the constitution wanted to ensure an effective executive presidency. However, they did not contemplate a ‘winner-takes-all’ situation by which the political party that formed the government, following a general election, would antagonise and completely exclude the political opposition from governance,” he said.
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Writer’s email:seth.bokpe@graphic.com.gh